And So It Begins....

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Nigel - I assume the "large connector" is an electrical one? The stalks I have are already "modified" but I need to make sure they work as they are supposed to before I take the wiring much further!

[Nigel]

I don't know what you mean by 'already modified'. They
are plug and play wiring.
Yes, there's a shrouded spade connector on the left which fouls
the LHD cowling.

Nigel

[SanRemo78]

Wires have been cut off and alternative connectors fitted Nigel. Photos might have helped but I was in a rush to get to the pub..... Again.

[SanRemo78]

Pictures paint a thousand words? Here's the column stalks I was donated/bought (can't remember) from a LHD car along with the cowling. Yet to be tested so may need to be replaced but you can see that the leads have been hacked about somewhat. No idea why and it doesn't bother me at this point! For anyone else wanting to swap the stalks to achieve a more conventional layout they're not a straight swap sadly, the mounting lugs on the column are in the wrong spots and one of the terminals fouls the mounting too. All easily resolved with a couple of aluminum plates bolted onto the column and then drilled/tapped for the mounting screws and some butchery with a hacksaw to sort the interference with the terminal. Fitted and level. Onto the next task - lunch - and then the aircon hose as the fittings arrived next day delivery.

[SanRemo78]

A little cleaning up required and a dab of paint too.
What is odd about this is that my first Beta, a 1978 HPE had the early brown dash and mustard trim with the earlier triangular tipped stalks. When the interior wore out I bought an entire interior from a later car including the dash and everything swapped over without any (major) issues. I also have a memory (which may be faulty) that I converted the stalks to the later ones, also from a LHD car, but that that was a straight swap. I'm probably imagining it.....

[SanRemo78]

Well that's the mechanical side of the aircon install done. The last unions fitted and tightened up. The dashboard has been tested and nothing catches or can chafe. I think I need one more P clip to finish it. The -10 hose through the right side of the bulkhead was a bit of a bugger today, as the last of it went into position it pulled the grommet out. In the end I had to resort to a piece of clear plastic sheet around the hose so that friction was reduced but the pig of a job was putting the grommet back which entailed dropping the steering column. I have a feeling it might fight me again if any wiring has to go through there too...

[WestonE]

Impressive work Guy! If summers get any hotter I might have to add this to the Beta as well as the Monte.

[SanRemo78]

This morning saw some more progress - and I'm really happy to have moved a vulnerable panel out of storage and fit it to the car! so, that's the front valance fitted to the car with everything lined up and bolted down, the grille has also been put on, I hope for the last time, leaving the headlight surrounds to go. These will have to wait a while as the headlights are protruding a little further than the originals did. Until I've got the headlight aim sorted out these will have to stay on the shelf, I suspect I'll need to extend the bottom feet by 5mm and put a spacer behind the upper mounts.

And the front bumper is on - temporarily - it's not yet mounted centrally and I don't like uneven gaps. The support brackets may need some gentle persuasion before it'll sit right. And I think I screwed up the lights in the bumper - the cables need extending a couple of inches. Not the end of the world but I don't like having to do this sort of thing twice! It's a waste of terminals, solder and time!

[SanRemo78]

Well that was a fight. The bumper was poorly aligned (it was offset to the right and sticking too far forward plus it appeared to be facing upwards too)as mentioned previously, it's been off, irons removed, "adjusted" (vice and a mallet, a bit of violence - you get it?) rechecked, reassembled and refitted a number of times to the point where I'm comfortable with the fit now. I may move it slightly forward but it'll need to come off at least once more for a final polish and maybe to fettle a couple of the rubber strips that may need work. The light units need the wires lengthening still but they are easily removed from the bumper, all fixings being new stainless steel to future proof the car.

[SanRemo78]

Next was some prep work on the LHD column stalks I'm going to fit. I tested the function of the indicator stalk and it was horrible in comparison to the RHD one I got with the car. On the bench moving the stalk halfway up or down to create the contact and releasing it only worked in one direction. Also it only dimly lit the test bulb in one direction. Clicking it fully on resulted in a bright test bulb in each direction. Summat amiss. The cosmetic condition of the LHD stalks is much better that the RHD ones though. So, mix and match time! The switch mechanism from the RHD set was removed and the contacts cleaned up with a glassfiber pen and years of crud removed. The contacts in the base of the LHD stalks were also cleaned and everything was reassembled and the action is so much nicer now, the halfway position releases and kills the signal, full deflection locks it in place until turning the steering wheel cancels it. Electrically it also works perfectly. Happy with that, time to get confused looking at the wiring diagram and have come to a full stop until a question is answered by Simtek!

The new system is designed to send power to the indicators when the switch is earthed out. There's a single cable in which is spliced into the original left and right cables (blue and blue/black) and the original power in cable (white) becomes the earth for the system. The brain will detect if I want the left indictors or right ones to work by virtue of different value resistors in the blue and blue/black cables. Which is where this brought me to a temporary halt as the diagram doesn't specify the values for each circuit....

The system also provides for the dash indicator warning light from a separate connection. But it doesn't take into account the Beta having left and right warning lights. I suspect that will simply be a case of splicing into the signal wires for the indicators themselves but not sure yet...

Questions asked, reply awaited.

Time for lunch, then F1 Qualifying, then checking the headlight switch functionality. The wipers are scaring me a little....

[SanRemo78]

Forgot I have also done some work on the aircon pipe routing, I wasn't entirely happy with the left side of the installation, the charging port was sitting too high and may have been too close to the underside of the bonnet. In the end I used the mounting bracket for the Bosch ignition module on the left tower and bolted it to that with some P clips to hold the pipework.  Another P clip and a spacer nailed to the strut tower to slam panel bracket keeps it nicely out of the way and also routes it around the battery so it won't chafe.

I made a mistake too, I got a new starter cable made to the pattern of the old one. It's now chopped up as I had to run the cable through to battery cut off relay. That required the purchase of a new tool that will be used half a dozen times and stored forever.. A crimping tool for larger cables. At £15 delivered with terminals it was cheap enough not to worry about! But the issue was fitting a cut cable into the terminals... it just would not go without loads of strands poking out. The way to do it became clear once I'd stripped the scrap end off to reveal the professionally fitted terminal had had its end flared outwards! Simple enough to put a terminal in the vice and use an old punch to work in circles around it to flare it out and it went on easily! Crimp tool also worked okay provided the crimp was done slowly working it around several sides. A bit of heat shrink finished it off nicely. The connection is now battery positive to relay, relay to 100A fuse, fuse to computer. Battery negative to earth and computer. But it's all dead at the moment as the relay is supplied switched off so I need to complete the switching part of the loom first before I get any life in the system. Safety overkill! Great!